Six Thrilling New Theme-Park Rides for 2012

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Six Thrilling New Theme-Park Rides for 2012

Even though there are still technically a few weeks left in summer, Labor Day marks its unofficial end as the last few states send their children back to school. It's never too early to start looking forward to next summer, though, and Six Flags is providing theme park fans with news that will get them through the year.

The theme park giant has revealed major new attractions coming to seven of their parks, so whether you're on the East Coast, West Coast or somewhere in-between, there will be at least one new featured ride waiting for you when the parks open next year.

__Goliath __- (Six Flags New England - Springfield, MA)This is a coaster truly deserving of its name, as it will be a giant new addition to Six Flags New England. A suspended-seat coaster, Goliath begins with an 18-story climb after which is releases riders into an unconventionally full vertical, face-down 65 mph drop. The coaster then rockets through a 102-foot-tall vertical loop followed by an enormous 110-foot-tall butterfly turn before rising up a second 19-story tower, after which riders will go through the entire trip again in reverse.

*X-Flight *- (Six Flags Great America - Chicago, IL)

What looks to be the most innovative of all the attractions in the new Six Flags lineup, X-Flight is a wing coaster that has riders performing flight maneuvers such as barrel rolls and zero-g rolls. The coaster begins with a 12-story, 55mph drop and ends with a handlebar-clutching finish as a vertical flip leads through a keyhole cut-out. In order to sustain a feeling of flight through all of these twists and turns, X-Flight uses a floating seat system pictured below:

__Superman: Ultimate Flight __- (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - San Francisco, CA)While Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Great Adventure got flying Superman coasters in 2002 and 2003 respectively, this new version of Ultimate Flight use a unique track layout rather than rotating cars to reproduce the sensation of flight. Billed as the tallest inversion west of the Mississippi, the new Ultimate Flight sports a height of 150, speeds of 62 miles per hour, two upside-down twists and two vertical rolls over a track length of 863 feet.

A new thrill ride, rather than a roller coaster, is coming to both of these parks in Spring 2012 with SkyScreamer, a new adrenaline-pumping take on the classic swings family ride. In this version, riders will be swung in a 98-foot circle at 40 mph. The thrill comes once the entire ride crawls up a 200 foot tower, giving riders an incredible park-wide panoramic views.

Another new thrill ride addition to the Six Flags Great Adventure complex will come to it's sister property, the Hurricane Harbor water park. "The Falls" is a new slide tower where guests will climb into a clear, fully-enclosed "drop box" where the floor will release, sending riders straight down into a 32 mph water slide. Park president John Fitzgerald promises that "Drop boxes are an innovative, exciting addition to our already thrilling speed slides. They are not for the faint of heart. The sheer anticipation of waiting for the floor to drop will have our guests’ adrenaline pumping.”

The world isn't predicted to end until December 21st, 2012, so Six Flags America is aiming to give you a small preview. I don't think the Mayans had anything quite this fun in mind, though. Apocalypse: The Last Stand is a stand-up steel roller coaster sporting a 100 foot ascent and 55 mph speeds. While neither of those stats are going to blow away die-hard coaster fanatics, a full two-minute ride time means that Apocalypse will be worth the wait in line for park-goers. The new attraction is set to debut on Friday, May 25, 2012 with a grand-opening celebration followed by a "fire in the sky" show later that evening.

Another DC-universe themed ride, Lex Luthor Drop of Doom is a new take on free falls. The drop here is from 400 feet, which will send riders on an 85mph, 5 second plummet, after which a new magnetic braking system will bring the ride to a sudden stop just a few feet from the ground.